A small cube that can balance on its edges and rotate on its corners, as well as walk along, has been created by Swiss engineers.

Cubli measures just 15cm in height and uses reaction wheels that rotate at high angular velocities to enable it to jump up and travel in a given direction.

While the clever cube is currently a prototype, some researchers hope to use its method of moving along for planetary exploration vehicles and even self-assembling robots.

Scroll down for video

Here the mechanical cube shows off its moved by jumping from its 'resting position to balancing on its edge before jumping onto its corner

Cubli, which has been invented by
engineers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, consists
of three reaction wheels, each attached to a brushless DC motor, plus
movement sensors, an embedded processor and battery.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

The
sensors are used to estimate the tilt of the cube and provide the
angular velocity - the angular speed at which an object is rotating
along with the direction in which it is rotating - of the reaction
wheels, which are mounted on three faces of the cube.

The
reaction wheels can brake suddenly to cause the Cubli to jump up from
its ‘resting position’ onto one of its edges without external support,
as it transfers momentum from the wheel’s to the cube’s body.

Cubli measures just 15cm in height and uses reaction wheels that rotate at high angular velocities to make it jump up, balance and walk along. It is currently a prototype, but some researchers hope to use the technology to design planetary exploration vehicles and self-assembling robots of the future

Cubli can detect disturbances to adjust its position while balancing on its corner, and also rotate on the spot

Cubli is able to balance on one corner and spin

HOW DOES CUBLI WORK?

Sensors in the mechanical device are used to estimate the tilt of the cube and provide the angular velocity - the angular speed at which an object is rotating along with the direction in which it is rotating - of the reaction wheels, which are mounted on three faces of the cube.

The reaction wheels can brake suddenly to cause the Cubli to jump up from its ‘resting position’ onto one of its edges without external support, as it transfers momentum from the wheel’s to the cube’s body.

Balancing on its corner is achieved by two ‘jump up’ manoeuvres.

The first one raises the Cubli from one of its faces so that it can balance on its edge, while the second one raises it from the edge to one of its corners.

Cubli can detect disturbances to adjust its position while balancing on its corner, and also rotate on the spot.

The miniature mechanical device is able to use a ‘controlled fall’ to travel in a certain direction and when it combines its jumping, balancing and falling moves, it can ‘walk’ across a surface, the scientists said.

While the technology could be used in future space explorer vehicles and self-assembling robots, the ‘cool little cube’ was simply designed to ‘jump up, balance and walk,’ its creators said.

Cubli uses two manoeuvres to jump from its resting position to one of its edges and then balance on one of its corners. The mechanical device can detect disturbances to adjust its position while balancing on its corner (illustrated) and also rotate

NASA WANTS TO GIVE FUTURE ROVERS A 'BRAIN'

As impressive as the Mars Curiosity’s findings have been, the rover just doesn’t have the brains to cut it further out in the solar system.

This is because, at the start of each Martian day, Nasa has to deal with a significant communication delay when it sends its agenda to the Mars rover.

Even moving at light speed, instructions from Earth take about 20 minutes to reach the surface of Mars. This 40-minute roundtrip makes real-time control of the rover impossible

On Jupiter's moon Europa, where astrobiologists suspect extraterrestrial life could exist, the delay balloons to over 90 minutes.

But an ‘intelligent’ camera that can not only take pictures of alien rock, but also analyse them and draw intelligent conclusions about what to do next is hoping to change all that.

Named ‘TextureCam’, the two-lens device snaps 3D images and a special processor, separate from the rover's main computer, analyses the pictures.

By recognising textures in the photos, the processor distinguishes between sand, rocks and sky.

The processor then uses the size and distance to rocks in the picture to determine if any are scientifically important layered rocks.

When TextureCam spots an interesting rock, it can either upload a high-resolution image back to Earth or send a message to the main processor to move toward the rock and take a sample.

It works similarly to the facial unlock feature available on smartphones and computers.

The more examples of interesting rocks it was shown, the better it becomes at identifying the common features that make rocks scientifically important.

Recently TextureCam was successfully run through its paces in the rocky landscape of the Mojave Desert in Southern California—a useful test environment for the Martian surface.

Advertisement

Share or comment on this article:

The cube that BREAK DANCES: Mechanical box that jumps, spins and balances could help create intelligent space probes